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The First Congress of Western Armenians
Even though the Ozakom's activities – or, more accurately, lack of activities – were criticised by nearly every stratum of society, the air of freedom in Transcaucasia after March, 1917, contrasted sharply with the restrictive atmosphere of Grand Duke Nicholas' administration. Nearly three hundred thousand Turkish Armenian refugees also experienced the difference. Having found shelter in the Caucasus, the had, nonetheless, been abused and disarmed by tsarist officials, allowed no corporate societies, and usually prevented from returning to their Russian-occupied native districts unless they possessed property deeds, a requirement few could satisfy. Their primary concerns following the Revolution, unlike those of the Eastern (Russian) Armenians, remained repartition and defence of the front. Taking advantage of the easing of the restrictions, an inter-party council summoned the First Congress of Western Armenians to meet at Yerevan in May, 1917. Of the eighty delegates, fifteen came from occupied Western (Turkish) Armenia, twenty-seven from the refugee communities in the Caucasus, fourteen from various societies, eight from political parties, and three from the press. The remainder were invited national leaders. 52 Critical of the uncoordinated relief efforts, the Congress called for the immediate creation of a single executive body to supervise these activities. To secure the physical existence of the Western Armenians, revive their disputed economy, rebuild their homeland, and provide a progressive academic and civic education for their maturing generation, a network of auxiliary societies was to be organised both in the Caucasus and in the native provinces and the cooperation of the Eastern Armenian was to be solicited. 53 The Congress entrusted the program to the Western Armenian Council, eight of whose members were Dashnakist, three Ramkavar, 54 two Hntchakist, and one Social Democrat. The body's Executive Bureau included Vahan Papazian, Chairman, and Garo Sasouni (Dashnakists); Artak Darbinian, Hakob Ter Zakarian, and Avetis Terzipashian (Ramkavars); and Hrand Galikian (Hntchakist). 55 By autumn, considerable success was evidenced as scores of local branches were activated. The relief efforts of the Caucasian Armenian Benevolent Society, the Armenian Agrarian Society, the Brotherly Aid Committee, the Moscow Committee, and other groups were unified. A number of elementary schools were opened in Western Armenia to serve the refugee population that streamed homeward. At winter's end, twenty-five primary schools were in operation in the Van area alone. 56 By that time, approximately a hundred and fifty thousand natives of Van, Bitlis, Erzurum, and Trabizond vilayets had repatriated. 57 This apparent Armenian resurgence had been sanctioned and supported by the Petrograd Provisional Government.
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52) Vahan Papazian, "Im houshere" [My Memoirs], II (Beirut, 1952), 439. G. Sasouni, "Tajkahayastane rousakan tirapetoutian tak (1914-1918) [Turkish Armenia under Russian Domination (1914-1918)] (Boston, 1927), p. 137, states there were sixty-four delegates, of whom forty-one adhered to Dashnaktsoutyoun.
53) Vahan Papazian, "Im houshere" [My Memoirs], II (Beirut, 1952), pp. 439-440; G. Sasouni, "Tajkahayastane rousakan tirapetoutian tak (1914-1918) [Turkish Armenia under Russian Domination (1914-1918)] (Boston, 1927), p. 138.
54) The Sahmanadir Ramkavar ("Constitutional Democrat") party, organised at Constantinople in 1908, adopted liberal, antirevolutionary, and laissez-faire principles. Like the Armenian Populists of Transcaucasia, the Ramkavars reflected middle-class opinion but enjoyed more public support than did the Populists. For a résumé of the founding of the Sahmanadir Ramkavar party and its initial program, consult Manuk G. Jizmejian, "Patmoutyoun amerikahai kaghakakan kusaktsutiants, 1890-1925" [History of the Armenian-American Political Parties, 1890-1925] (Fresno, Calif. 1930), pp. 168-172.
55) Vahan Papazian, "Im houshere" [My Memoirs], II (Beirut, 1952), p. 440; G. Sasouni, "Tajkahayastane rousakan tirapetoutian tak (1914-1918) [Turkish Armenia under Russian Domination (1914-1918)] (Boston, 1927), p. 139. The latter author, omitting Terzipashian, states that the Bureau was composed of five members.
56) Arshak Alboyajian, "Ankakh Hayastan" [Independent Armenia], Amenoun Taretsouytse [Everyone's Almanac], XV ([Constantinople], 1921), 109-110.
57) S. Vratsian, "Hayastani Hanrapetoutyoun" [Republic of Armenia] (2nd ed.; Beirut, 1958), p. 26; Vahan Papazian, "Im houshere" [My Memoirs], II (Beirut, 1952), p. 442.
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